A Winter with Barkymort
by teddylonglong
Summary: Harry has to return to the Dursleys over Christmas in his fifth Hogwarts year - together with his new dog familiar that will take matters into his own hands. Completely AU! Just for fun.


**A Winter with Barkymort**  
><strong>by teddylonglong<strong>

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
>I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.<em>

* * *

><p>Inwardly groaning, fifteen-year-old Harry Potter got out of his uncle's car and made his way to the house to leave his luggage inside, before he obediently returned outside to shovel the snow that was covering the grounds, as if Little Whinging had been dressed in white robes for Christmas.<p>

Usually, Harry used to remain at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays, however, since Voldemort had been resurrected in the summer, headmaster Dumbledore thought that it was safer for Harry to return to his caring relatives.

The members of the phoenix had been as pleased as Harry upon hearing that they had to take turns observing the Dursleys' residence to protect the boy from Death Eaters or even Voldemort if necessary. However, everyone knew better than to complain to Albus Dumbledore let alone refuse any of the old wizard's ideas.

_a Cute Barkymort b_

When Harry headed outside, he stopped dead in his tracks. Two yellow eyes were staring at him from about the height of his knees. He was just about to flee into the back garden, where he knew that someone from the Order of the Phoenix would be watching out for him, when a small voice spoke straight into his mind.

'Hello there, are you Harry?' the voice queried.

"Yes," Harry replied with a combination of anxiousness, curiosity and surprise.

'I'm Barkymort,' the voice spoke up again. 'I took the liberty of bonding to you, and I have a message for you.'

"And what might that be?" Harry enquired, feeling very apprehensive at the creature's - whatever kind of being it was - name.

'The message it 'This puppy is for you, Harry. His name is Barkymort, and he'll protect you and will keep you company, when you have to stay at your atrocious relatives' house. From your loving godfather Sirius.' That was the message,' the dog informed Harry, telepathically, only to add, 'Since I bonded to you, you'll be able to contact me through telepathy as well, by the way.'

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Harry replied, shocked. "If my relatives see you..."

'No one can see me, only if I want them to see me,' Barkymort informed him, cheerily.

"All right then, let me quickly shovel this snow, before my uncle comes and gets angry," Harry resolved and set to work, noticing in surprise that he was suddenly able to see the dog. It was completely black, except for his bright, yellow eyes. However, he was smaller and had much less fur than Sirius in his Animagus form. The dog followed the path that Harry was freeing from snow and sniffled here and there, obviously having much fun. Harry just could not help liking the cute little dog.

However, he should notice soon that not everyone would be pleased about the small dog's presence, even if most people could not even see let alone hear the puppy.

_c Invisible Barkymort d_

During the next few days, Barkymort followed Harry around the house, wherever Harry had to do his chores. When Harry went outside to shovel snow, Barkymort happily sniffled around the garden, making Harry laugh at his antics. The dog remained invisible to everyone in the house, and none of the Dursleys had a clue that a magical puppy was residing under their roof. _'Thank Merlin, they'd kick us both out if they knew,'_ Harry thought, when he informed Barkymort in the morning of Christmas Eve that he'd have to spend the whole day in the kitchen preparing Christmas Eve dinner for the Dursleys.

While he was diligently working on his chores, the thought _'I wonder if and when I have to take out Barkymort for a wee-wee'_ crossed his mind. However, when he telepathically asked his familiar, the puppy thought back and informed him that he could see to his needs by himself.

_e Naughty Barkymort f_

"Dudley," Petunia spoke up, thoughtfully, when the three Dursleys gathered around the kitchen table for lunch. "Ever since you returned from school, you smell as if you hadn't washed for weeks. Will you please take a shower before Aunt Marge is going to come tomorrow?"

"But Mum, I only took a shower in the morning before coming back home," Dudley replied in an upset voice.

"Maybe it's whatever the freak is cooking that stinks," Vernon threw in, efficiently helping his son against his mother's suspicions.

_g Clever Barkymort h_

Harry could not help chuckling. _'If they only knew,'_ he thought in amusement. Only a few hours ago had Barkymort told him that he had two favourite spots to leave small presents. One of them was in a corner under Dudley's bed. The other was behind the television in the living room.

It was not as if Barkymort was not able to leave the house. As the magical dog he was, closed doors did not mean a barrier for him. However, it was much more fun to anger the people who were treating his familiar badly. On the other hand, he was also able to have some fun outside.

_i Avenging Barkymort j_

Severus Snape was standing behind the bushes in the Dursleys' garden watching how the boy spent the whole day in the kitchen cooking. _'And then he doesn't even get anything to eat himself,'_ he thought, angrily, as he observed the Dursleys have lunch.

He stepped back to be better hidden by the bushels, when the boy suddenly stepped out in order to once again shovel snow. _'Apparently, he's not as pampered as I always thought,'_ Severus realised in surprise. _'They more or less seem to treat him like a house-elf.'_

All of a sudden, he felt a warm sensation at his leg, between his knee and his foot that slowly spread downwards. It felt wet. Severus stared around in surprise. _'It's almost as if a dog had used my leg to relieve himself,'_ he thought, horrified and in disgust.

_k Impossible Barkymort l_

Mungundus grudgingly entered the Dursleys' garden, knowing that he was already an hour late to take over from Severus Snape. 'Why do I need to watch the stupid boy anyway?' he thought. _'I don't care at all.'_

All of a sudden, just before he reached the bushes, where the members of the Order used to hide and observe the residence, something attacked him and he found himself lying in the snow. _'What was that?'_ he thought, horrified, scrambled to his feet and left as soon as his feet would carry him. _'I'll just tell Dumbledore there was a lion in the garden and attacked me,'_ he resolved as he apparated away.

_m Bold Barkymort n_

"Petunia," Vernon Dursley suddenly shouted from the living room, complaining in a loud voice, "It's not only the food that the freak cooked that stinks. He's made the whole living room stink."

Petunia hurried into the living room, unaware that a small puppy followed her invisibly. However, when the dog chose to relieve himself at the Christmas tree, she could very well smell what she was unable to see.

"You're right, Vernon, but I think that it's the Christmas tree that stinks," she said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

_o Sneaky Barkymort p_

Finally, the Dursleys sat around the kitchen table for dinner on Christmas Eve. "It's still snowing outside," Dudley growled, "and I wanted..."

"Oh no," Petunia interrupted her son. "I sent the freak back to his cupboard, but he still has to shovel snow."

"I'll tell him," Vernon roared and after a longing look at the large steak on his plate left the kitchen to hammer against the cupboard's door. "Go and shovel snow," he shouted at the freak, before he swiftly returned to the kitchen, only to see in anger that his steak had vanished into thin air.

"Who ate my steak?" he roared, giving his son an upset look.

"It's gone!" Petunia shrieked, reassuring her husband that Dudley had not moved from his seat. "It must have been the freak."

"But I just sent him outside," Vernon replied, growling in anger at the unknown person who had dared to rob him.

_q Brave Barkymort r_

Thirty minutes later, in the evening of Christmas Eve, Harry was still shovelling snow, and Severus Snape was still watching the Dursleys' residence, hoping that at least Lupin would come to take turns with him, when Voldemort decided that Christmas Eve would be a brilliant time to kill Harry Potter.

Barkymort was the first to notice the evil wizard approach, and he did not wait but jumped and bit the man right into the wedding tackle, making him double over and land in the snow in pain. Before Harry even realised what happened, he used the same programme for the two Death Eaters who accompanied their Dark Lord, before he sat on Voldmort's stomach biting every point of the evil wizard's body that he could reach. From time to time, seeing that his two companions seemed to recover, he jumped onto their stomachs to repeat the process.

'Go on, kill him, Barkymort' Harry instructed his familiar, knowing that he was not allowed to cast magic outside of Hogwarts. Nor did he have his wand with him. His uncle had seen to it.

_s Hero Barkymort t_

By the time the Order of the Phoenix arrived, they could only make out one dead evil wizard along with two badly injured Death Eaters. A black puppy was sitting on Voldemort's stomach, staring proudly at his work.

_u Poor Barkymort v_

"Potter has a dog?" Snape blurted out, grimly. "That beast peed on me multiple times, while I was her for the Order. Potter, just so you know, you're not allowed to bring that beast to Hogwarts."

"Ahh but Severus, the dog is a hero," Dumbledore threw in, gently.

"I don't care," the Potions Master replied in a sharp voice.

_w Way to go Barkymort x_

'Barkymort, are you visible to all of them?' Harry thought to the dog in surprise, knowing that so far he had not shown himself to anyone but himself.

'Yes, I wanted them to know that it was a puppy who won against an evil wizard,' Barkymort replied, chuckling, and stared into the magical cameras of the reporters from the Daily prophet, not willing to move away from his trophy AKA Voldemort's stomach.

_y Barkymort z_

Harry sadly mounted the Hogwarts Express. _'I'm so going to miss Barkymort,'_ he thought. _'Too bad that he isn't allowed to go to Hogwarts. I just hope he'll come back to me as soon as the summer holidays begin.'_ Deep in thoughts, he lowered himself into an empty seat next to the window. However, all of a sudden, his view fell of two yellow eyes, right above the seat opposite of him.

Barkymort was off to Hogwarts.

**The End**

**I wish all my readers a Very Happy Christmas!**


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